Alistair MacKichan

Alistair was born in 1951 into a medical household in Lancashire. His mother's family had a farm in Warwickshire where he felt more at home.

He gained a place at St Edmund Hall, Oxford where he was treasurer of the boat club, and won a "blue" in a tractor-ploughing team which was victorious over Cambridge. He kissed the turf when he won a "meet" racewalk on the iconic Iffley Road track where Bannister ran the first four minute mile. He joined a farming company, leaving their paid employment for five tours as an unwaged actor in the Moral Rearmament musical "Columba".

Aged 28, he decided romantically to find a future in Scotland. In Edinburgh, he worked with the homeless, married, and studied for the Church, winning his year prize for Christian Ethics. He was called to four successive Church of Scotland ministries spanning thirty years. He played bass guitar in a Praise Band, and was an Army Chaplain and a Summer Missions leader.

His hobbies have included motor cycling, aviary birds, gardening and sailing. He and his wife live in Scottish Borders. He has two sons, and four step children. In retirement he intends to write.